Episode Details

November 15, 1971. Galveston, Texas. 15-year old Debbie Ackerman and 15-year old Maria Johnson are seen climbing into a white van outside an ice cream shop, but they never return home. Days later, the girls’ bodies are found in a bayou and they are bound, nude from the waist down and have been shot to death. After several decades, a convicted murderer named Edward Harold Bell sends out letters in which he confesses to having killed Debbie and Maria. Bell also claims to be responsible for eleven murders which occurred in Texas during the 1970s and refers to the victims as “The Eleven Who Went to Heaven”, but no conclusive evidence ever links him to these crimes. This week, “The Trail Went Cold” releases the conclusion of our extensive two-part anniversary episode on the murders of eleven female victims known as “The Eleven Who Went to Heaven”: 15-year old Debbie Ackerman, 15-year old Maria Johnson, 14-year old Rhonda Renee Johnson, 13-year old Sharon Shaw, 13-year old Colette Wilson, 19-year old Gloria Gonzales, 12-year old Brooks Bracewell, 14-year old Georgia Geer, 14-year old Brenda Jones, 16-year old Kimberley Pitchford and 12-year old Suzanne Bowers.

If you have information about any of these cases, please contact the tip line of the Galveston County District Attorney’s Office at 1-800-566-2209.

Additional Reading:

“The Eleven” Series on the A&E Network

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Harold_Bell

https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Edward_Bell

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murders_of_Rhonda_Johnson_and_Sharon_Shaw

https://abc13.com/archive/8269239/

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Some-suspect-serial-killer-in-1971-Galveston-2078025.php

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Confessions-of-a-cold-blooded-killer-2187501.php

“Deliver Us: Three Decades of Murder and Redemption of the Infamous I-45/Texas Killing Fields” by Kathryn Casey

https://nypost.com/2017/10/18/killer-who-claims-he-murdered-11-girls-may-have-lied-documentary/

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Texas-killer-s-death-leaves-unanswered-13783107.php#photo-17259855

https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/shows/houston-matters/2019/04/22/330217/possible-serial-killer-dies-in-texas-prison/

Join us on Saturday, February 25 at 8:00pm ET for an online streaming marathon where we will be watching classic segments from “Unsolved Mysteries”. You can enter our screening room by clicking on this link.

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